COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho --This weekend marks the 40th anniversary since "Grease" hit the big screen in 1978.
"Grease" was not only the highest-grossing film that year, but it still remains the highest grossing movie musical of all time.
So many years later, there is a local tie.
Coeur d'Alene actress, Ellen Travolta, played a small role as a diner waitress in "Grease."
Her name might sound familiar because she's also John Travolta's big sister.
Ellen told KREM 2 on Sunday that it feels like yesterday she was on the set making the movie.
"I walked on the set and (John) said can my sister be in the movie?" Travolta said. "He asked me 'do you want to be in the movie?' And I said yes! So they wrote a part in for me--that's how casual it was."
Ellen said she spent two days on set for the scene in the diner.
We asked if she could still remember her lines.
"I think, I bet I could remember them--if I really thought about it," Travolta said. "I think it's something like 'There's Danny!' I forget---I think it was 'There's Danny!"
When the movie was being made, Ellen says no one ever thought it would be as big as it is.
"Well, number one, I think the movie is way better than the play," Travolta said. "They added music and had Olivia and John and they were wonderful. It struck something in people. It was kind of old school in the 50s--it was a period piece. I hate to think of the 50s as a period piece, but it was. I think it had an appeal to people. It was romantic, silly, and it dealt with some issues that people wanted to hear dealt with."
To celebrate its 40th anniversary, "Grease" returned to the big screen during the weekend at the NorthTown Mall in Spokane and at Riverstone in Coeur d'Alene.